


the one

by havisham



Series: havisham's SASO 2017 works collection [74]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, Divorce, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 09:14:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11917764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: Romance is fine, pour me some wine / Tell me it’s just for the fun of it.Otabek and JJ are actors and old friends, and they're stuck in a cycle neither of them can seem to break. (Until now.)





	the one

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SASO 2017, Bonus Round 7: Free-For-All, for [the prompt:](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/25713.html?thread=16347761#cmt16347761) JJ/Otabek, "I'm Acting In A Play Where This Guy Has To Act LIke He's Secretly In Love With Me. But When The Play Ends, We Go Back To Real Life Where I'm Secretly In Love With Him."

They worked together for the first time in a long time on a play that had gotten consistently bad reviews every time it was put on. The problem wasn’t the story, JJ said, when he came down from Montreal to sell Otabek on it. It was one of those steamy hot days in New York when even if you didn’t have a job or practice to get to, it was still a battle just to get out the door and walk to the cafe down the street. 

They were at that cafe, however, and Otabek watched in mute horror as JJ ordered a hot coffee to go with his danish. He started sweating just looking at it. 

JJ’s divorce with Isabella was just being finalized. There was a manic gleam in his bright blue eyes that Otabek knew to be wary of. “The story’s tragic, awful really -- about this swordsman whose obsession with obtaining the perfect woman makes him ignore his good hearted best friend, who loves him truly. Then there’s a war and they both die (but not before confessing their love for each other!) Come on, Otabek, you love this kind of thing.” 

“I’m not a romantic,” Otabek said, wrapping his arms more tightly around himself. JJ’s eyebrows rose until they almost touched his hair. Somewhere along the line, JJ had at least made a passing acquaintance with subtlety, it seemed, because he said no more about that. 

“You want me to be the best friend, right?” Ugh. There was nothing he’d want to do less, except maybe take more of JJ’s weepy two AM phone calls as his marriage dissolved around him. Otabek had no idea why he’d defaulted into the role of JJ’s confidant, but he wished that it would end already. 

Honestly, JJ had married when he was _nineteen_. What did he think was going to happen? Neither he nor Isabella were bad or mean people -- honestly, the opposite was true -- but they’d hardly been ready to marry when they did, and now, when they were both twenty-six, it was all over. 

“No,” JJ said, and that weird gleam in his eye was back. “I want you to be the swordsman. _I’m_ going to be the best friend! Isn’t it fantastic? I knew you’d love it. Otabek, say that you love it. Say ‘JJ, you’re a genius and also my best friend.’” 

“I’m -- Well, I don’t hate it,” Otabek said cautiously. “But what’s the catch?” 

“What kind of friend would I be if there was a catch in the exciting and amazing opportunity?!” 

*

The catch revealed itself during the first rehearsal, where the full cast and crew met together at the first time. Otabek could recognize that shade of red hair anywhere. Mila came up to him with a small smile and Otabek, who was old enough not to run away, smiled back. Their romance had been very short-lived and embarrassing on Otabek’s end, but if she could be grown-up about it, so could he. 

“Hey, Mila, how are you?” Otabek said when they got close enough to talk. 

“I’m good. How about you?” 

“Fantastic,” Otabek said, deadpan. 

Mila laughed. “I heard that JJ moved in with you after the divorce. Is that true?” 

“Yes, but it’s only temporary.” 

“Poor Beka! He’s handful, isn’t he? I heard Isabella’s doing some things in Canada.”

“Yes, she runs some kind of lifestyle blog. A well-known one too. She gets interviewed for things all the time, even in the States. I think she might be more famous than he is at this point.” 

“Well, she deserves it, doesn’t she?”

“Because she was married to JJ for that long?” 

“Oh, I don’t expect _you_ to agree with that,” Mila said with a laugh, and there was an uneasy moment between them. Otabek suddenly remembered one night, years ago, when he had drunkenly confessed to Mila that he was in love with JJ and had been all this time. The next day, Mila had quietly dropped her pursuit of Otabek and Otabek had fled St. Petersburg in state of deep embarrassment. 

“Are you … good?” Mila asked tentatively. “Yes! Are you?” 

“Yes!” Mila’s smile was wide now, and genuine. “Let me tell you about Minami-kun sometimes. He’s the light of my life, in some ways!” 

“I’m glad,” Otabek said. 

And he was. 

*

The _actual_ catch was that they had to sing. 

*

The first performance wasn’t even over when Otabek knew that they had a hit on their hands. He could feel it in the air, the trembling attention of the audience as they watched him stalk through the stage, towards JJ’s fallen body. He threw his sword away and fell to his knees, his voice cracking as he sang the last song. 

Tenderly, he cradled JJ in his lap and leaned down to kiss him. JJ’s eyes, which had stay firmly closed until then, fluttered open when Otabek kissed him and Otabek felt his heart twist uncomfortably in his chest. He crushed that feeling mercilessly as the play ended and the curtain went down. 

They had three encores after that -- and it was only to play for the eager crowd that Otabek took JJ into his arms and kissed him again. The audience was delighted and clapped and JJ laughed breathlessly beside him. 

Afterwards, while they sat at an all-night diner, waiting for the first reviews to trickle in. Mila slid next to Otabek in a booth and hooked her heels on his boot to get his attention. Otabek jerked awake and stared at her. 

“Now’s your chance,” she said, nodding over to where JJ was, laughing and gossiping with the rest of the crew. 

“Chance for what?” Otabek said blankly. 

“Oh, for the --” Mila sighed deeply and gave him a beatific smile. “Nevermind.”

*

The reviews were good. The reviews were _fantastic_ , some of the best Otabek had in his entire career. JJ’s performance was given special attention, which was understandable since he’d had to carry most of the play’s emotional burden, but the reviewers also had some kind things to say about Otabek too, which he was grateful for. 

“We did it!” JJ said, wrapping his arms around Otabek’s shoulders and squeezing. “I told you that we could. Turning pain into art, isn’t that always the way?” 

“Yeah,” Otabek said, “I guess it is.” 

*

He didn’t want the play to end -- he liked it, living with JJ, talking to him everyday. He had sincerely thought that his love for JJ would be something that he’d grow out of, like an old pair of jeans, but instead it seemed to grow with him. Otabek knew that as soon as the play was over, JJ would be gone -- he’d start dating someone else, maybe he’d get that call from Hollywood he was always looking for. And Otabek would lose him again. 

JJ might be playing a guy who was secretly in love with Otabek’s character, but in real life, it was always Otabek would was in love. 

He didn’t want this to end, even though he knew that it would -- that it must. 

*

It was the wrap-up party and Otabek was drunk enough to feel light on his feet but not drunk enough to start weeping. He’d danced with Mila and then had met her Minami-kun and tried to charm them both -- and had done it well until Mila had pushed him away and said, giggling, “You’re doing too much, Beka.” 

Somehow, at the end of the night, Otabek found himself stuffed into the back of an Uber with JJ, who seemed to be in a pensive mood that night. He made for good company through the ride, but as soon as they got to Otabek’s front door, JJ seemed to lose something of his permanent good spirits. 

He leaned against the doorframe and looked, unaccountably drained. 

“What the matter?” Otabek said, still feeling loose-limbed with wine. He took off his leather jacket and flung it across the room to the couch. “They say you’ve got a real chance at a Tony nod, if Lin Manuel Miranda doesn’t open his new musical this year.” 

“Yeah, I know, it’s great --” JJ said, ruffling his hair. “I’m really happy about it. I’m happy that it was a success. I guess I’m just a little sad because --” 

“Oh, fuck yes,” Otabek said, as he retrieved more wine from inside his coat closet. It was a gift from Victor and Yuuri too, so probably fantastically expensive and very, very good. “Let’s keep this party going.” 

“Otabek, do you mind? I’m trying to spill out my guts here,” JJ said, throwing himself onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. 

“Sorry, sorry, spill away,” Otabek said as he sat down next to him and popped open the cork. The only clean glasses he had weren’t glasses at all, but mugs that had JJ’s face on them. He poured the wine and gave one of the mugs to JJ. “Here’s to us.” 

“Otabek. _I’minlovewithyou_ ,” JJ said in a rush. He gulped down his wine while Otabek sprayed his out across the coffee table in a fine mist. 

“What did you say?!” Otabek said, feeling like he was drowning. 

JJ grinned and then grimaced. “I don’t know how much more clear I could’ve been! I’ve been hanging off you all summer -- I pretty much threw myself at you, but you’ve never --” 

“JJ, you’re drunk,” Otabek said, trying to be calm. 

“I’m not, I swear. I haven’t touched the stuff all night.” 

“Then _I’m_ drunk,” Otabek said, “because I thought I heard you say that you were in love with me. Which is impossible cause I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen and pimply and I’m not anymore, so…” 

JJ was staring at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“What the hell was I supposed to say?” Otabek snapped. “Uh, sorry, JJ, I know you have this storybook romance shit happening with Isabella, but what about me?” 

“Fuck.” JJ pushed his hair out his face and looked stressed out. “I -- Isabella and I, we got married too young. We weren’t even grown up when we -- I didn’t know. But why didn’t you say anything when it was over?” 

“Why do you think I’m still in love with you?” Otabek said, frowning. “Like I’ve been waiting this entire time like some pathetic person, waiting for their best friend to notice that they loved him?” 

“You never liked being called my best friend…” JJ said, a little shakily. “Otabek, let’s just --” 

And he kissed Otabek and it was -- not exactly a revelation. After all, Otabek had done it on stage more than a hundred times this summer. JJ’s mouth felt sweet and right against his, but Otabek wasn’t sure his would against JJ’s. 

“Oh fuck,” he muttered, feeling himself get hard against JJ’s thigh, like he was still seventeen. JJ was grinning, that old cocky, shit-eating grin that Otabek missed like a limb. JJ’s nimble fingers unzipped his pants and took out his cock. 

Otabek sighed into JJ’s mouth and sank into it, the feeling, his cock rubbing eagerly against JJ’s. It felt good, it felt absurdly good. It felt so good that he came, embarrassingly quick, in JJ’s hands. He wanted to remember this, in case it never happened again. He really wanted it to happen again. 

JJ was still looking at him, his expression intent and careful. He bit his lip. “Are you going to remember this tomorrow?” 

“Will you?” Otabek said as he breathed out a long, long exhale. 

“I will,” JJ said fervently. “I’ll never forget. Otabek! We wasted --” 

“We didn’t, though,” Otabek said. He was drunk and he had just come. He could afford to be generous. “It wouldn’t have worked out until exactly this moment.” 

JJ considered this for a moment and nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” 

(Of course he was right.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just thinking that the play is a mashup of _Cyrano de Bergerac_ and _Wings_. I dare you to write fic for it.


End file.
